Samoa makes a lasting impression on this traveler, even 40 years on

I thoroughly enjoyed Christopher Reynolds’ article about Samoa and the people there (“The Samoan Way,” Dec. 25).

About 40 years ago, I was on a game show and won a trip to Australia and New Zealand. The flight to Australia stopped in Samoa for perhaps 30 minutes.

I got off the plane with a few others and was greeted by a group of Samoans singing beautifully.

They left a lasting impression of the Samoan way.

Cheryl Crawford

Fallbrook

Finding history

In regards to “She Set Off to Visit All 59 National Parks, From Maine to Pago Pago” [online (www.lat.ms/visitingparks), Dec. 26, by Christopher Reynolds], great story.

My family and I are doing the same, including all California Historical Landmarks (www.lat.ms/cahistorical). A group of us are trying to see all such sites. Some have already completed all of the more than 1,100 sites.

Our website (www.findinghistory.net) is under construction, but you can see the fun and progress we’ve made. Through this crazy trip we’ve discovered California and one another, which has resulted in some wonderful friendships.

We are from all walks of life: corporate professionals, university professors, etc., and we all go our ways searching for adventure and later get together to compare notes, reminisce and laugh.

E. Zeke Barragan

North Hollywood

A data trick

Regarding “How to Make the Right Call” (On the Spot, by Catharine Hamm, Dec. 11): We went to Europe for a month last year and decided not to hassle with buying a new phone or a different SIM card. I took my iPhone 6s and paid the $50 or $60 for a month of international use and data.

As the article mentioned, you will need to restrict uploading or downloading content, such as pictures or even email, waiting until Wi-Fi is available.

A big find was the app OffMaps 2. For just a few dollars, I was able to download the city maps (including attractions, restaurants, etc.) for all the major cities we planned to visit, and we were able to use it offline to find where we were, or where we wanted to go in the city.

It uses the phone’s GPS signal to locate you without loading maps every time it’s activated. We came in well under our data limit for the trip.

Mike Howell

Redondo Beach